Teacher Leadership

There is no doubt that I try to be a little liberal with how I choose to manage a school. There are some things that students and teachers do that I may not 100% agree with, but I try to recognize a human element to the organization. I believe that you can spend a lot of time focusing on managing that human element or your can spend that same amount of time improving instruction and student effectiveness. The fact is, I am always outnumbered. With almost 900 students and close to 70 staff members, I can never watch all the people, all the time. I rely heavily on teacher and student leadership to find an effective balance. Last week we met with student leaders and I wrote about what those students said to out board members. This week I want to discuss teacher leadership.

I recently saved an article that highlighted 7 habits of teacher leaders. The author identified the following:

1. Model lifelong learning

2. Engage in effective collaborative learning

3. Assume collective responsibility for student success

4. Support newer colleagues

5. Contribute to the schoolwide improvement agenda

6. Impact school system performance

7. Build relationships with policymakers

All of these attributes are necessary but they also require action. Most teachers, even new teachers, know what should be done. Taking the next step to actively do those things can be hard sometimes. But that's what makes a leader.

It's the time of year when we start doing summative evaluations and I wish that teacher leadership (Standard 1) was even more emphasized because it impacts so much of a school. In the spirit of preparing for those evaluations and preparing for a strong finish, take a few minutes to self-reflect on your contribution to those 7 habits. Where do you excel and where can you improve? When we have 70 teacher leaders, it greatly increases our odds of leading an effective school!

Wisdom That Still Works

I was welcomed back in full force this week! We had a lot of events and it instantly reminded me of how busy the end of the school year will be. That became even more interesting when I inadvertently sent out a virus to everyone on Monday! (If you ever want to know who  reads your emails, just send them a virus! You'll find out really quick!) After the stress of that first day, I was already exhausted.





On Tuesday afternoon, I was invited to the Greene County Senior Center to celebrate Mr. William Davis. Mr. Davis is a former assistant principal for Greene County Schools and recently celebrated his 100th birthday. I was amazed at this man. He spoke to us after his recognition and said something that I instantly thought was worth writing down. It may even be my new mantra. He said, "If you can impress students by showing them that you care for them; they will take care of you." How simple, but how true. I hear from people in and out of education about how schools and students are just not the same as they used to be, but here was a 100 year-old administrator that knows what worked then and what still works today.

That idea instantly proved true for me on Wednesday as we hosted our annual School Board Luncheon. This event gives our student leaders an opportunity to speak with members of the school board and county office about our school, changes they have seen and goals that they would like to see. I never think that I should coach them into saying what I want them to say. For me, this is an authentic assessment of how well I am doing and how well we are doing collectively. I was impressed to hear from our student leaders that they believe that our teachers have improved in how they teach and in how they interact with students. They see you pushing them and caring for them and they told the people that matter most in our profession. I instantly thought of Mr. Davis and his words of wisdom.

Student feedback can be formal and informal and you have to treat that as your formative check. Are you impressing them by taking care of them? How do you know? While this may not be the best evaluation for that kid that you call down every day, it probably is a great evaluation from the majority of your students. Work to impress them and they should be taking care of you. 100 years of experience says so.